Cigarette lighter



July 12, H HORNING CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed July l, 1946 Fig-a Patented July 12, 1949 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE CIGARETTE LIGHTER Herman Horning, New York, N. Y.

Application July 1, 1946, Serial No. 680,689

l V This invention relates to cigarette lighters. It is an improvement over the cigarette lighter disclosed in my application Serial No. 657,270, filed on March 26, 1946, which is now abandoned.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a cigarette lighter in which a gas is ignited by the spark from the sparking wheel and the flame thus resulting, ignites the wick proper.v The gas is a mixture of fuel vapor and air and it is highly inflammable in the presence of a spark. When this gaseous mixture is ignited, the flame resulting therefrom is better able to ignite the wick than the spark from the sparking wheel. There is accordingly a faster igniting action by reason of this indirect process, than is the case where the igniting action is direct, that is where the spark from the sparking wheel is required to ignite the wick.

A preferred embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a vertical section; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view. v

The cigarette lighter III shown on the drawing is intended to representI any conventional type of cigarette lighter. It is provided with a casing and a cover I2. Within the casing is a tank I3 which is open at the bottom. In this tank is the absorbent cotton I4 or other material into which the fluid is poured and which stores the fluid for future use. It will be noted that there is a cut-out I5 in the side walls of the tank I3 at the bottom thereof. A passageway is provided for admission of air to the bottom of the tank since the wall I3' of the tank is spaced from the adjacent wall of the casing to form a passage down which the air may pass and the bottom adjacent corner of the tank is cut away at I 5' to permit the air to enter along the bottom thereof.

The conventional parts of the cigarette lighter as shown in Fig. 1 may be mentioned as follows:

There is a column 2U in the tank I3 which carries the flint 2|. A sparking wheel 22 is disposed immediately above the flint for the usual purpose. A wick 23 is carried within the tank and its upper end extends outwardly through a small hole in the top wall of the tank. In the type of cigarette lighter shown in the drawing, there is a combination windshield and chimney 24 which performs the usual function of such member. In addition to these conventional elements are the following:

A pair of holes 30 and 3| respectively, in the top wall of the tank I3 between the flint and sparking wheel assembly and the wick 23. Hole 3| provides communication between the inside of 5 Claims. (Cl. 67-7.1)

the tank I3 and the outside thereof. Connected to the top wall of tank I3 at hole 30 and concentric therewith is a tubular member 32. This tubular member stops short of the bottom of the tank as will be seen in Fig. 1. It contains a second wick 33 which extends from the inside of the tank through the tubular member 32 to the hole 3D. This second wick 33 is considerably smaller in diameter than the tube 32 and there-v fore allows for flow of some air up the tube with the liquid fuel in the wick 33. This causes vthe tube to act somewhat as a chimney for the ultimate gaseous mixture of fuel vapor and air which is produced at the top of the tube 32 and passes out through the hole.

The hole 3| allows the vapor from the fuel tank in the cotton I4 to escape into the space between the sparking wheel and the wick. The size of the hole will determine the amount of vapor that will escape. A small hole is all that is necessary, since only a trace of the vapor is necessary for igniting purposes. A mixture of the fuel vapor and air will enter the same space between the sparking wheel and the wick through the hole 30. It will be understood that the wick 33 in the tubular member 32 will by capillary action absorb a substantial amount of the fuel con# tained in the fuel tank I3. Tubular member 32 Will function in much the same Way as does a chimney and a current of air will flow up through said tubular member out through the hole 30. As this current of air moves from the tubular member, the air will intermingle and intermix with the vapor from the fuel tank in the wick 33. In consequence a mixture of air and fuel vapor will escape through the hole 30. This mixture together with the vapor escaping from hole 3| constitutes a highly inflammable gas which will very readily ignite when a spark comes into contact with it.

It will be understood that the above described device is but a preferred embodiment of this invention and that it is susceptible to many constructional changes and variations within the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A cigarette lighter which includes a fuel tank having an open bottom and with a passageway extending down between one wall of the tank and an enclosing casing to the bottom of the tank for admission of air to the bottom, a wick carried by said tank and extending partly therefrom, a. sparking wheel and flint disposed opposite said Wick, said tank having a hole therein between said wheel and said wick, a tubular 3 member carried within said tank and communieating with said hole, and a second wick loosely disposed Within said tubular member and at the bottom thereof extending into said tank.

2. A cigarette lighter which includes a fuel tank having an open bottom and with a passageway extending down between one wall of the tank and an enclosing casing to the bottom of the tank for admission of air to the bottom, a Wick extending inwardly .frihtfaifis tnks. sparkingwheel and a flint situlted opposite vsaid wick, said tank having a hole in its wall between said Wheel and said Wick, a tubular member in# said tank communicating with said hole-and, closing off all .passage therethrough from the i inside of the tank except througli-.fsaldg,tubularl member, and a second wick looselgdisposedcin, said tubular member and ext'ei'di'iig frin the bottom thereof into said tank and terminating j. at the top just short of said hole. 20

'f A@ Qiafet -.1,i11,tf zvthill;` neludesfgfugl milf the hat v hbirtfpf said second ntie at 4 opposite said wick, the other two holes in the top wall of the tank being disposed between said wick and said Wheel, a tubular member carried within said tank and connected to the top of the tank at the middle of the three holes, and a second wick loosely disposed within said tubular member and extending into the tank at the bottom of the tubular member and terminating at the top just short of the middle hole, the third 0L said holsiig adatdtdiiidgi vapor to f escape --i'nto -tlie-v space between `they first Wick and the wheel, and the tubular member acting the rs't wick and the Wheel.

. .tilcigfarettc lighter which includes a tank haying anccgperi` bottom and disposed in an enclosing basing, there being a passageway from thetogof the casing tothe bottom of the tank to permit passage of ai; thereto, a wick and a flint el spacedaprt h sai 

